City Of Angels
by Brookebynature
Summary: The only girl single father Nathan Scott has spent quality time with in four years is daughter Elizabeth. When she starts school, he meets first grade teacher Haley James, and finds that parentteacher conferences begin to take on a whole new meaning. NH
1. The Initial Meeting

**Author- **Emily-Grace Mendes (Brookebynature)

**Disclaimer- **I don't own any of the characters except Elizabeth I guess, unless I make some more people up later on, in which case, I own them too. I know I don't own the title because it's good and it came to me in the bath, so there's _no way _I could have thought of it. If anyone knows where I stole it from, please let me know!

**A/N- **I know I keep starting all of these new stories, but this is a Naley and I hardly ever write Naley. Since Brucas on the show is no more, I decided to cheer myself up with some Naley (I don't know how that works, but I'm pretty sure my mind has a mind of its own lol) and this is the result. There's just something about the thought of Nathan as a father that just makes him even hotter. I hope that doesn't make me weird...On with the story!

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**City Of Angels**

Chapter One: The Initial Meeting

_Wilmington, North Carolina_

"Please can you plait my hair Daddy?" Her small voice asked, blue eyes staring up at him as she held out the hairbrush and two pink bands ready for Nathan's first attempt at a hairstyle of any kind.

"Plaits baby?" He asked, laughing a little. "Can't you choose something simple like a pony tail?"

"In my book, the girl has plaits for her first day of school." She told him, her tiny hand thrusting the brush at her father. "I want to be like her."

Nathan smiled, shaking his head as he began to brush through the smooth brown hair, his forehead creasing up into a frown as he sectioned his daughter's hair.

"It's not looking like the girl in the book Elizabeth." He laughed again, persevering with the pink band as he tied it tightly around the end of her hair.

The little girl shrugged as Nathan turned her to look in the mirror set on top of her dressing table. "It looks good to me. Thanks Daddy."

Anytime Elizabeth called him Daddy, Nathan couldn't help but find himself smiling at her comments, whether it be 'You're a bad singer Daddy' or 'You burned the pasta Daddy' or even the shrill noise of her calling him at four in the morning to tell him that the pink teddy bear, bought for her by her cool Uncle Lucas, had fallen out of the bed and was catching a cold.

But 'thanks Daddy' was the best of all. Second best. 'I love you Daddy' came first, and to Nathan, it always would. Elizabeth was the only person he had left to love in this city and hearing her tell him that made every second of his life worthwhile.

"Do we really have to walk?" She asked, pouting,-something Nathan found terrifying as she had picked up the habit from Brooke, the woman Elizabeth (unfortunately for him) aspired to be like when she grew up.

"Well we could crawl there." Nathan said softly, scooping the little girl up and twirling her around before setting her back on the floor with a kiss on her smooth forehead. "But it would take a Hell of a lot longer."

"You said Hell!" Elizabeth squealed. "You said a naughty word."

"I did huh?" He crouched down, level with the pair of blue eyes staring intently back at him. "I was just checking you remembered what's right and wrong ready for your first day of school."

"I did good?" She asked, straightening the jeans skirt Nathan had creased only moments ago.

"You did brilliant baby."

----

"Why don't I get the bus?" Elizabeth asked as she walked hand-in-hand with Nathan along the sidewalk, him taking large strides in order to get his daughter to class on time, her skipping just to keep up. "The girl in the book gets the bus."

Stopping, Nathan released her hand from his. "Hop on." He told her, almost sitting on the sidewalk in an attempt to help Elizabeth climb on his back.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm helping you arrive in style." He replied simply, standing back up as Elizabeth flung her arms around his neck.

As look would have it, Nathan's pace enabled the two to make it in time for before the bell rung, signalling the beginning of school. The bright pink backpack on Elizabeth's back contained the peanut butter and jelly sandwich she had requested the night before, accompanied by a bag a chips and whatever the blue drink was that she'd been nagging at him to get from the grocery store ever since she was old enough to talk.

Lowering his daughter from his back, Nathan bent down to her level once more, brushing the stray piece of hair away from her eyes as he kissed her.

"See? I told you I'd help you arrive in style."

As Nathan rose to his natural form, he was met with a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder and a white apron tied to the body of a friendly-looking woman around his own age.

"Your child's first day too?" He smiled. "Kinda scary right? I don't know what I'm going to do when I get home."

"Actually I teach first grade." She replied, smiling warmly as Nathan felt his cheeks flush slightly as the situation. "Haley James."

Nathan shook her extended hand and her smile broadened as she looked down at Elizabeth's nervous face. "Nice to meet you."

"And you must be Elizabeth Scott."

The little girl nodded, biting her lower lip as she shuffled from one foot to another, suddenly overwhelmed by the new situation.

"Well Elizabeth we're going to be painting this morning." Haley told her. "Have you ever finger painted before?"

Elizabeth shook her head. "But Daddy messed up when he tried to paint my room. He got paint on his hands."

Nathan found himself laughing as he realised that nothing much about their home life would be kept between the two of them now.

"But it's good now."

"What colour did your Daddy paint your room?" Haley asked, imagining what his wife must have said when she saw the mess.

"Pink."

"There's no greater colour than pink in our apartment is there Bethy?" Nathan chuckled, casting his thoughts to the room his little girl spent lots of her time in. He'd tried countless times to get her to enjoy basketball and the colour blue, but had failed, and after too many attempts, he had decided to give up.

"Well you can paint as many things pink as you want today." Haley smiled, just as the bell rung. "You going to say goodbye to your Daddy?"

Nathan kissed Elizabeth once more on her forehead. "I'll be back to pick you up."

"In style?"

He laughed, nodding his head. "Always in style."

-----

He'd paced the apartment for what felt like hours, but was only a matter of minutes. He'd tried to watch basketball, and when that didn't entertain him, he tried playing it on the driveway of his brother Lucas' house.

When Nathan lost three games in a row, Lucas gave up, sinking down against the garage door as his brother wiped away sweat with his jersey.

"She's only at school man." Lucas laughed. "Kids have been doing it for centuries."

"But what if she needs me?"

"The school has your cell number right?"

"Right."

"Then they'll ring if Elizabeth needs you."

The rest of that morning was spend discussing Lucas' tumultuous relationship with girlfriend Brooke Penelope Davis (Nathan loved saying her full name just to make her mad, usually resulting in her shouting at Lucas for something or another) and the fact that if they ever had kids, he would hate the thought of them going to school too.

"There's no way I'm having kids yet." She shouted from her position on the second storey balcony, under a pair of over-sized sunglasses and a layer of expensive moisturising sunscreen. "I look way too good in my jeans to throw that away."

The guys laughed, sipping on beer as they continued to discuss the force of nature that was Lucas' girlfriend. Not much had changed between the three of them since high school five years ago (other than the fact that Nathan now had a four-year-old daughter) and the two of them had always found comfort in that.

Nathan had endured boring talks from Lucas about his relationship with Brooke, and then when he was with another girl (Peyton Sawyer, someone neither had seen since graduation due to failed relationships and long distances) he had endured boring talks from Brooke about how she still loved Lucas.

Their constant banter therefore, came as no surprise to Nathan, who was half-waiting for them to announce their separation, only to get back together weeks later. He knew they'd marry and have kids eventually (Brooke's humorous obsession with looking hot all the time would never get in the way of that) as Lucas couldn't waste his skills as a potential father.

So with another few hours until Elizabeth would be ready to be picked up, Nathan and Lucas continued to discuss life and love and what Lucas could possibly buy Brooke as a gift for her birthday.

"Dude, you look like you're about to have a nervous breakdown." Lucas laughed. "What are you gonna do when Elizabeth tells you she has a boyfriend?"

"It's not gonna happen." Nathan replied simply. "She's not dating until she's eighteen."

"That's crap and you know it." Lucas continued to chuckle as Brooke raised her shades from the balcony above.

"You do know she's going to be socially outcast if you don't let her date?" She said, remembering back to their days of high school, and the countless girls Nathan took home to his bed. "Besides, she'd got your genes. There's no way she's going to be able to not date."

"Nobody's going to want to date her when they meet me." Nathan replied indignantly.

"Please. Dan Scott is your father, and I slept with the both of you. You're not going to put boys off Elizabeth. She's going to be hot as Hell."

"Hey!" The guys replied simultaneously from their spot in front of the garage.

"Sorry." Brooke apologised. "It _is_ true though."

"Brooke!"

Holding her hands up in defence, the brunette shot the two boys a seductive smile before replacing her sunglasses once more, laying back to work on her already golden tan.

----

"So how was school?" Nathan asked as he was met by a very happy-looking little girl waving a very pink-looking picture in his face.

"Good."

"Just good?"

"It was fun." Elizabeth shrugged. "I painted."

"And that's a very pretty pink picture." Nathan smiled.

They turned to walk away, but stopped as Nathan could hear shouts of "Mr Scott, Mr Scott."

"Miss James." Nathan smiled.

"Elizabeth forgot her backpack."

"Thank you." He replied gratefully as she handed over the bag.

"It's no problem. I just thought her Mom wouldn't be too happy if she left her things at school on the first day."

"Well tha…"

"I don't have a Mom." Elizabeth cut in. "She has to live somewhere else."

"I'm sorry." Haley replied. "I shouldn't have assumed…"

"It's okay." Nathan shrugged. "And thank you for bringing her bag. We're not too good at remembering stuff are we Bethy?"

"I'd say you're doing fine." Haley returned, smiling at the giggling little girl clambering onto Nathan's back. "I'll see you tomorrow Elizabeth. You too Mr Scott."

It was a blur of pepperoni pizza, vanilla bubble bath and non-stop details about the day when Nathan and Elizabeth returned home to the only dinner he knew how to cook perfectly. When a yawn escaped from Elizabeth's excited, yet tired mouth, Nathan seized his chance to put her to bed amongst a flurry of "Miss James knows hard math" and "Miss James drinks coffee like you" as his daughter fought against sleep that he knew would claim her within minutes of her head hitting the pillow.

Elizabeth's first day of school was over, and as good as the two of them had had it until now, Nathan knew it wouldn't be long enough before things started to get harder. He found himself slightly excited by the prospect of being able to have an adult conversation with someone other than Lucas or Brooke, (who he swore wasn't living in the real world more than half the time) and as he settled on the couch, he was happy to discover that he could watch basketball without his thoughts turning to Elizabeth, and how she was.

Haley James seemed to be the best elementary school teacher he could ask for, and for the first time that day, he found himself trying to recall the way she looked and spoke. Perhaps Elizabeth starting school was the start of something for him too?

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_Please review xxx_


	2. The Show and Tell

**A/N- **Thanks so much for your reviews guys, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

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**City Of Angels**

Chapter 2: The Show and Tell

"Miss James gave me this for you Daddy." Elizabeth smiled, holding out a piece of paper with her name written on the top. "You has to sign it for show and tell tomorrow."

"Let's see." Nathan asked, bending down as Elizabeth pointed out her name at the top of the paper, and then Haley's name at the bottom. "It says you have to take your favourite toy to school." He explained, indicating the second sentence as Elizabeth narrowed her eyes to try and comprehend the letter.

"So which is your favourite? Hula Barbie? Princess Barbie?"

When Elizabeth shook her head, grinning, Nathan was out of ideas, as there was no way she was taking in a basketball to show her class mates. As much as he wanted that to be a reality, he knew he could only dream about having a child that shared his love of all things basketball, so until then, he would have to make do with pink and dresses and barbies.

"You're my favourite."

"But it says a favourite _toy _baby." Nathan laughed, showing her the piece of paper again. "I'm not a toy."

He knew that if Brooke was here right now (which he was entirely glad that she wasn't) she would argue Elizabeth's case, reciting the story of the boy toy auction, and all the other times he was 'played with.'

"But you're my favourite." The little girl pouted, crossing her arms-something Nathan hadn't witnessed before. If she had picked up habits like this from her first few days at school, there was no telling what she might come out with after a year.

"Well we'll see."

For the second time that week, Nathan placed the small slices of pizza on Elizabeth's plate, accompanied by a few vegetables he'd tried (and failed) to cook properly in order to give his daughter a well-balanced meal. He silently told himself that one day soon, he'd have to buy a cook book, or at least have Lucas show him how to make a lasagne.

It came as no surprise to him that Elizabeth loved eating at her Uncle Luke's house, (partly because Brooke was almost always there, clad in some kind of skimpy outfit that she knew accentuated every curve she had) and he had tried to remember how to make the béchamel sauce without forming lumps, and which way to lay the sheets of pasta so that the sauce didn't overflow into the oven. But his first two attempts at trying the dish himself had failed, resulting in take-out from some place or another, and from that moment, Nathan had vowed not to ruin another piece of crockery.

"I'm sorry it's pizza again baby." Nathan smiled, smoothing Elizabeth's soft hair. "But I'll try something new soon, I promise."

"It's okay." She shrugged. "The other kids think it's cool you let me eat pizza. Their Mommy's and Daddy's say they can't have it until they're big."

"See? I'm a cool Dad right?"

"Right."

They continued to eat, the television turned off until they had both finished their meal, and Elizabeth had been excused from the small table in the corner of the kitchen. Nathan had always instilled rules like this upon his daughter, knowing that if he really wanted to become a good father, Elizabeth had to learn good manners and family values.

So he smiled when the familiar sound of 'Dora The Explorer' flooded the apartment, breaking the silence that had lasted only seconds.

----

He'd tried everything to get her to stop crying. Trying to prize his daughter away from his leg was easier said than done, and after he had failed, Nathan knew the only thing that would get her to stop that morning would be to agree to her taking him to school for show and tell.

After wiping Elizabeth's tears and washing her face softly with a warm flannel, Nathan dug out the smartest shirt he could find (the one he'd had since senior prom at high school) and the most uncreased pair of pants to wear to stand in front of Elizabeth's class mates.

"Mr Scott" Haley smiled as he lowered Elizabeth from his back,-something she wouldn't stop doing after her first day at school. Nathan had encouraged her to walk, skip or even hop along the sidewalk, but in his daughter's eyes, nothing beat 'arriving in style' on his back.

"Call me Nathan." He replied. "Please."

"My Daddy's come for show and tell."

Haley smiled again, brushing her hair behind her ears. "I'm sorry Mr Scott, Nathan, but parents aren't generally allowed to be in the classroom unless they have permission from the principal."

"That's the thing." Nathan began, rubbing the back of his neck, a little embarrassed. "I'm what Elizabeth brought from show and tell."

"Oh…"

"I tried to get her to bring one of her barbies but we kinda didn't agree on that one did we baby?"

Elizabeth shook her head grinning. "My Daddy is my favourite toy."

Haley laughed and Nathan joined in, glad that the situation had been clarified. "Well then I guess you'd better hold onto him Elizabeth."

Nathan endured a morning of number games and singing the alphabet with too many little faces staring up at him as though they'd never had an adult sitting among them before. Lunch time had been chaos, and he was more than grateful when Haley invited him to join the others in the staff room.

"I never realised meal times could be so noisy." He laughed as he took his seat beside Haley and another lady who looked a good ten years older than him.

"And messy." Haley nodded, agreeing as Nathan took a bite of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he had made for himself in a matter of seconds before leaving the house that morning.

"I always knew they could be messy. Unfortunately, pizza is one of the messiest meals and popular choice at our apartment."

"So what do you do Mr Scott?" Nathan was asked by an overweight man sat at the other end of the table. He seemed to be scrutinizing his every move, and Nathan wasn't at all sure whether he wanted to answer.

"Um, I haven't had a job for the last four years. I wanted to raise Elizabeth myself."

Upon receiving judging nods, Nathan continued, encouraged by Haley's warm smile beside him.

"Her Mom isn't around so I'm doing the best I can. I'm going to start looking for a job once she settles in here."

"I'm sure she…" Haley began, but was interrupted by the same man from earlier.

"Children need to be left to their own devices. It's no good that parents pamper them until they go to college."

Nathan raised an eyebrow, but undeterred, carried on his explanation to Haley. "I'd rather be there for her when she needs me. I've experienced not having parents around enough and I didn't want that for my daughter."

"Elizabeth's a lucky girl." Haley nodded, making apologetic eyes at the man sitting next to her. "You seem like a really great father."

----

"This is my Daddy." Elizabeth told her classmates proudly when it came for her turn to show and tell. "He's my favourite toy."

"Don't be silly." A boy shouted from the carpet. "Your daddy can't be a toy."

"Uh uh." She argued back, hands on her hips as Nathan ducked his head with embarrassment. He hadn't ever counted on his daughter forcing him to go to school for show and tell, but then, at nineteen, he hadn't counted on becoming a single father. Stranger things had happened, and Nathan continued to sit on the chair provided for him by a sympathetic Haley.

"He's fun." Elizabeth began. "He gives me a piggy-back ride to school every morning, because we arrive in style. He makes me pizza more than once a week, and I don't have to use a fork."

At this point, Nathan began to feel his cheeks flush as Haley simply smiled next to him. He wasn't quite sure why any of this should matter, especially since his daughter was telling this to children her own age. But it did, and Haley's opinion mattered to him.

"He reads me stories and he does all the different voices with actions." Elizabeth continued proudly. "And when we play basketball, he always lets me win."

It turned out that Nathan playing basketball was a big hit with the boys, who had begged their teacher to let Nathan teach them how to dribble at afternoon recess. Questions of "Miss James, please can Mr Scott play with us?" and "Please can he come back tomorrow?" had taken their toll on Haley, who had taken a seat on the bench while watching Nathan hoist each child in turn to the net on the side of the building.

"You're quite the idol around here now." Haley laughed as Elizabeth clutched his hand at the end of school that day. Children were now coming up to ask her daddy for piggy-back rides and pizza, and as mush as she had enjoyed telling them all the good points about her daddy, he was just that: _her _daddy.

Nathan simply shrugged and forced a smile, still highly embarrassed about the broadcasting of what many people would describe as questionable parenting skills.

"So I'll see you tomorrow?" Haley asked, suddenly aware of her intentions. It didn't look good for the first grade teacher to strike up a quick friendship with a single father, and she quickly straightened out her shirt making sure that everything was in place, and nobody could find anything to exploit.

"Tomorrow." Nathan nodded, pulling on Elizabeth's hand as they turned away, hasty smiles for the recognition of something more than just a friendship.

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Please review guys xxx 


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